King of Kings, He is risen!

Holy Saturday-- Stava Maria

Pieta

Good Friday

My God! My God, forgive me. My sins have done this to Thee.

Good Friday----The reproaches

O my people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me!

I led you out of Egypt, from slavery to freedom, but you led your Saviour to the cross.

O my people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me!

For forty years I led you safely through the desert. I fed you with manna from heaven, and brought you to a land of plenty; but you led your Saviour to the cross.

What more could I have done for you? I planted you as my fairest vine, but you yielded only bitterness: when I was thirsty you gave me vinegar to drink, and you pierced your Saviour's side with a lance.

I opened the sea before you, but you opened my side with a spear.

I led you on your way in a pillar of cloud, but you led me to Pilate's court.

O my people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me!

I bore you up with manna in the desert, but you struck me down and scourged me.

I gave you saving water from the rock, but you gave me gall and vinegar to drink.

O my people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me!

I gave you a royal scepter, but you gave me a crown of thorns.

I raised you to the height of majesty, but you have raised me high on a cross.

O my people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? 

Answer me!

Holy Thursday

Holy Wednesday

Random thoughts....the sedevaticantists again

• I came across another sedevaticantist last month. I see the appeal of this concept--that DOES NOT mean that I approve but think I see where it comes from--- but it's a cop-out. Some people can't bear what's going on in the Church today so they back away completely and say that we don't have a pope at all.  It's like looking out your window and seeing there is an intruder at the door. Some of us see him and reach for the phone to call the cops, go hide in the safest room in the house and load our gun. The sedevaticantist says, "No, no, no this can't be. I live in a nice neighborhood. There is no-one at the door." If anyone is tempted towards this line of thinking I implore you not to. We have a lousy situation in our Church but we can't freak out and fall into fantasy, no matter how comforting it might be.
  

• Homosexuals are only 1, maybe 2% of the population but their wishes dominate our society. We've been completely manipulated and threatened with social ruin if we don't go along. We are being herded like sheep into a pen. Who is running this particular social machine, really and what is their purpose anything other than control?
  
  
  
• My uncle's doctors removed his tracheotomy tube. He's now sitting up and trying to talk. Thank God!
  
  
  
•  Pat Archbold of the Creative Minority Blog finally got fired from National Catholic Register.  He is a family man and probably needed the money so this is sad but hopefully he'll find a way to make up the financial loss. Frankly, his writings were the only reason I even bothered with NCR and I don't think I'm the only one.
  
  
  
• Ever single year we go through the same crap during Holy Week : someone puts on a blasphemous movie or hour long special and we get the sly, "Hey Judas was misunderstood", swill. You'd think these people would get tired of it but I guess their master spurs them on. 

Holy Tuesday

From the Manger to the Cross

One of the earliest life of Our Lord movies.

Palm Sunday

A tale of two Franciscans

We really need to pray more for our priests. They are under constant attack and when one falls into sin or merely acts a fool in public, the Devil and his minions rejoice because of the stain on the priest's soul and dignity and because people see this and lose their Faith. 

Looking back on Fr. Francis Mary of EWTN I remember that in the weeks before he left the priesthood he seemed unlike himself. He sounded and looked as grouchy as a teenager who is missing his absent girlfriend. When indeed, he left for the sake of a woman, I thought it unlikely that they would live happily ever after and according to this report, that is exactly the case. What a tragedy.

Fr. Michael Laloux, bless his heart probably watched Brother Sun and Sister Moon, one too many times  but how many people sat in those pews or will watch this performance and cringe so hard that they lose respect for the priesthood? 

The sorrowful mysteries

This is Satanic

This book was simply belched out of Hell. There is nothing else to say.

He bore all our sins....

The glamour of evil

Have you ever noticed our society (even Catholics) find killers more far more interesting than their victims or their families? 

Thanks be to God !

My uncle is off the ventilator. He still has the tracheotomy tube but he's doing so well that his doctors are moving him from the critical care floor to the general nursing floor. I asked God for the sake of His Son's Holy Face to please let my uncle be strong enough to do without the ventilator before the end of the month. He answered my prayers. We still have a long way to go but he is improving. He also will not be going back to his old nursing home. I just don't trust the nurse practitioner or the RNs. My hope is that we can find a permanent nursing home that is closer to my mother so she can visit more than once a week from now on.

Stay strong, dear Fathers....

Most people in Catholic blog and media land seem to think that the October synod is going to be a disaster (or a triumph depending on where you stand) and that priests will be ordered to give Holy Communion to adulterers. One priest has already said that he'll leave his public ministry before he does that----he used the phrase priestly ministry but  once ordained a man is a priest forever so he would be a priest without an assignment--- that's all.

I feel badly for this priest. Most of the comments from lay people  on various sites haven't been very sympathetic or useful. The best one I've read has been from Hilary White but she's mainly thinking about what lay people should do on their own behalf.

 Retiring from the field is exactly what the Church's enemies want good priests to do but on the other hand, every time a priest knowingly gives Our Lord to public, unrepentant sinners he contributes to their sin and sins himself. You can't commit mortal sin and say it's for the greater good. I'm reminded of a talk I heard that was given by a Franciscan priest who mentioned that he didn't want to get into trouble with his superiors but he wasn't going to Hell for any human respect and that hoped  he wouldn't recognize a public sinner if one presented himself in the Communion line. He was ready but was not looking forward to the prospect. Today, priests all over the world are faced with making a decision. If the time comes will they turn a blind eye to public sin or will they, as far as the world is concerned, ruin their lives?

Leaving a parish assignment and going to a prison, nursing home, reform school, group home, or college will be an option for some priests but not all of them. If he really ticks off his bishop a priest can be laicized and any priest who shows him friendship will be in trouble as well. IF the synod goes the way the smart, in-the-know people all say it will, then many good priests will have to suffer. From the day of their ordinations to the day they die, our priests have targets on their backs. Pray, pray, pray for them.


St. John Fisher, the only bishop in all of England who remained faithful, pray for us.
St. Athanatius, pray for us.
Mother Vogl, pray for us.
St. Bruno, pray for us.
St. Robert Bellarmine, pray for us.

A word from Pope Pius IX

You must fight energetically, since you know very well what great wounds the undefiled Spouse of Christ Jesus has suffered, and how vigorous is the destructive attack of Her enemies. You must also care for and defend the Catholic faith with Episcopal strength and see that the flock entrusted to you stands to the end firm and unmoved in the faith. For unless one preserves the faith entire and uninjured, he will without doubt perish forever.

Pope Pius IX for his encyclical,QUI PLURIBUS

He bore our sins

Christ with thorns

This was never one of my favorite paintings until I took a look at the crown of thorns the anonymous artist painted. It's closer to what is shown in the Shroud of Turin that the usual circlets of thorns. It's become a great source for meditation. 

About the Norfolk knights

Council 3548 of the Knights of Columbus chose to honor Governor Terry McAuliffe as the Grand Marshall of the Norfolk St. Patrick's Parade. The pastor of their parish, Fr. Beeman has severed relations between the parish and the council. I'll ask my husband to ask one of the officers in his council but in the mean time I wonder what this means for the regular members. Doesn't a Knights of Columbus council need a parish to serve? How can they exist independently? Do they all need to find a new parish to go to and serve there? Can the regular members do anything about this? Is this grounds for getting rid of their head Knight? Judging by this letter that is posted on the excellent Les Femmes blog, the Virginia State Council is choosing to stay out of it.

we are in worse trouble than we thought

I expect very little from the USCCB but reading the following statement made my mouth drop open.


"Both Jesus and Muhammad loved and cared for all whom they met, especially the poor and oppressed; their teachings and example call for solidarity with the poor, oppressed, homeless, hungry, and needy in today’s world."

Lectio Divina

In this painting the artists shows a middle class woman who has done her bible or missal reading and is now saying her morning prayers while her little girl sleeps.

Follow

At prayer

Oh brother Knights....

Fr. McGiveney would not approve

Despite being expressly asked not to do it by their pastor who may also very well be  the council chaplain,  the Council 3548 of Knights of Columbus in Norfolk have decided to have a politician as the grand master of their St. Patrick's Day Parade. The politician happens to be our governor,  Terry McAuliffe, who has Irish blood and lists his religion as Catholic.  He's also a homophile and a proponent  of abortion.  Fr. Beeman, the pastor of their parish, Holy Trinity specifically asked the Knights not  honor any political figure as grand marshal lest the church be seen as a supporter of the politician's policies. At the very least, he asked the Knights not honor someone who's public behavior is at odds with Church teaching. You can read about this in Fr. Beeman's letter to the parish: here.  

The Knights are supposed to be a helping presence in their parish. They are supposed to be obedient to the pastor.  Instead, the relationship between the council and the parish has been severed.  The regular members had nothing to do with this, the problem lies with the Grand Knight and his advisers if they were for this too. Hopefully at the end of his term, a new GK can be elected and the Knights can beg to be taken back at the parish. In the mean time,  my husband's brother knights have given scandal and shown willful disobedience to their pastor in a matter of morals. They've also shown disloyalty to Fr. McGiveney's founding principles. 

Mary Anne at Les Femmes,  and the Restore DC Catholicism blog,  have  more of the sad details. 

Mercy

Something to think about at Mass....

When you clap for the birthday boy, or the anniversary couple or the choir at Mass remember that the only people who clapped at Calvary were Our Lord's enemies.

Daughters of Charity, then and now

I was looking a pictures of liturgical dancers* and found one at the bottom of this post that made me really sad. The Daughters/Sisters of Charity were my old high school nuns and I remember them with affection.

St. Louise, co-foundess of the Daughters of Charity

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, foundress of the American Sisters of Charity, it's rule was based on the French Daughters of Charity, founded by St. Vincent dePaul and St. Louise de Marillac

Servant of God, Sr. Blandina Segal of Sante Fe New Mexico

In 1850, the Sisters of Charity decided to join with the French Daughters of Charity. 

Mother Clementine was the Superior of the order at the time of the unification.

A Canadian Sister of Charity performing a liturgical dance.

* Liturgical dance is another sad example of  the Protestantization of our Church. Seriously, why is this allowed? It's self aggandizement in the house of God. On a merely human level it's either immodest and an occasion of sin for some,  or sadly ridiculous. The dancers either look like writhing  Orion slave girls or they are old women who have clearly forgotten that white hair ill becomes a fool and jester.

Peter in danger?

"Theologians debating sex is a terrible sign:it was while the Byzantines debated that of the angels that the Turks arrived" Indro Montanelli





Until I saw this quote I didn't know who  the late, Italian journalist, Mr. Indro Montanelli was but I can not get his remark out of my mind. The ISIS monsters have said they will attack Rome. Since they've done everything they've said they would do it's reasonable to assume that they mean this threat. My hope is that the many, many wealthy Arabs who shop in Rome and enjoy it very much will be able to speak to whomever it is who funds ISIS these days but these boys seem so far out of control that they might be like Frankenstein's monster once it left the castle laboratory. Islam, as a dangerous force has returned. Perhaps this is allowed as a scourge. Since our bishops are trying to turn the Faith into a Prostestantesque (and not even main line) thing with big sloppy kisses for publicly unrepentant sinners maybe it's time for the "Turks" to arrive again.

A Daughter of Charity

Goodbye childhood friend....

Farewell, Mr. Spock.

After the Wedding

Today it's not uncommon at Catholic weddings for the bride to leave her bouquet at Our Lady's chapel but in 1880s France Breton brides would come to church on the day after with her flowers.

I don't think St. Basil would be pleased

When I think of Father Rosica and Fr. Timothy Scott I have to wonder what the heck is wrong with the Basilian order?

Mother Vogl, pray for us.

St. John Eudes, pray for us.

St. John Vianney, pray for us.

St. Basil, pray for us. 

a beautiful memory

When I was seven or eight I stood in my church, St. Augustine, leaned against a pillar and looked up in awe at the light dancing from the stained glass portraits of Saints Paul and Augustine. They almost seemed to breathe and look down benignly on me. This painting brought that beautiful memory back to me.

An update on my uncle

My uncle has stabilized enough to be moved from the Critical Care unit at the hospital into a rehabilitation hospital. He has a tracheotomy and is lethargic. If you speak or touch him he responds. The staff at the rehab hospital are all very kind and upbeat.  I need to go to the nursing home and secure some of my uncle's things. The last time I was there it was obvious that someone had been watching his TV because the channel had been changed so I should probably get Rocky to take it home.  I really hope I don't see the nurse practitioner or his RN because I am not confident that I'll be civil.

Thank you all for your prayers. 

"Ya Yassou'a" -- Oh Jesus!

While certain Catholics in the West are obsessed with satisfying their sexual urges and then strutting up to Communion with a big used car salesman grin, Christians in the Middle East are being slaughtered. 

Ya Yassou'a is what the 21 Copts cried out as they were being killed. 

In your charity could you say a prayer?

My uncle has had a cold for three weeks. Now he's in the critical care unit. Guess what? The nurse practitioner at the his nursing home was wrong. He doesn't have a bad cold, he has pneumonia. Nursing home acquired pneumonia is common but takes a long time to treat. He's frightened and anxious and has to be sedated in order to let the oxygen antibiotics and bed rest work. When I got the phone call from the nursing home I sat down on the kitchen floor and cried. He's on a ventilator and will not be going back to the nursing home until he's been weaned off it.

In your charity could you say a little prayer for him?

Whatever happens I know, Christus regnat. Christ vincit. Christus imperat.

At prayer

St. Anthony's bread

If you visit a Franciscan monastery or parish on St. Anthony's feast day you will get blessed St. Anthony's bread after Mass.  

Our Lady warned us.....

"Masonry, which will then be in power, will enact iniquitous laws with the objective of doing away with this Sacrament, making it easy for everyone to live in sin.  The Christian spirit will rapidly decay, extinguishing the precious light of Faith until it reaches the point that there will be an almost total and general corruption of customs. In these unhappy times, there will be unbridled luxury that would conquer innumerable frivolous souls who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer be found in children, nor modesty in women. In this supreme moment of need of the Church, those who should speak will fall silent.”

Words from Our Lady of Quito to Mother Mariana

Instead of wasting time and energy raging about the 50 Shades of Gray movie which is number one in both the US and internationally,how about reflecting on what to Our Lady who told us long ago.  And if you were disturbed by the book and movie check your daughter's room to see if she has a copy of the Twilight Trilogy.  It's just as toxic in it's way and 50 Shades was written as sort of a fan fiction tribute that to Edward and Bella's saga.

Religious art at the Walters

Rocky and I went to the Walters Museum in Baltimore to see the Medieval art exhibit. It was incredible.  It was very hard, to see the bishop's croziers, altar chalices and patens, and the reliquaries still holding the bones of saints in a museum instead of a church. I  made the sign of the cross before each relic holder and implored the saints to pray for us. When you first step off the elevator you will be in the main hall which looks like a church. Out of habit I almost genuflected. Rocky said he nearly did as well. We toured the Egyptian and Roman collections and because the museum was about to close we rushed through parts of the Renaissance and 18th century collections.



We saw one very famous painting, "The Christian Martyr's Last Prayer" by Jean-Leon Gerome. When you stand next to it and study the details you will get chills.

We also saw the a painting by an artist I'd never heard of but will be looking into in the future. Ary Scheffer who created this, "Christ Weeping Over Jerusalem"

random thoughts

• Michael Matt has a good question about the big papal extravaganza Masses. I have to say one thing about his experience in 1979. He was a child at the time and he wouldn't have known the difference from a biker gang dude from some guys in leather jackets. That being said, everything else said in the video makes sense. Obviously many, if not, most Catholics-- laity and clergy don't believe in transubstantiation, otherwise they would not act the way they do.

• The people who are outraged over the 50 Shades of Gray movie have their hearts in the right place but the horse has already left the barn. Where were they when the book was becoming a social phenomenon? The time to protest was when their female neighbors, friends and relatives were openly buying and discussing the filthy book and it's equally vile sequels.
  
  
  
• Speaking of vile, isn't it breathtaking when you consider that Cardinals Kaspar and Marx aren't even as honest as Martin Luther? Luther, nasty and nutty as he was, at least openly admitted his hatred of the Church and left.
  
  
  
• Michael Voris did a video on reactionary Catholics. But aren't we all reactionary, Mr. Voris included? Is not his own CMTV a reaction to the horrible and unreported things going on in the Church? Things happen and we respond unless we are oblivious or dead. When one sees rain, a normal person reacts by getting out the umbrella, going back inside or deciding to that getting wet is no big deal. When faced with a weird looking man standing by your car in a dark and empty parking lot most women react by asking someone to walk with them to the car, waiting for the scary guy  to leave or by calling the cops.
  
  
  
  
• Pope Benedict says he has no regrets about resigning. I half way believe him. The poor, dear man is probably so relieved to be out of the limelight and out of the verbal and spiritual cross-hairs of those who hate the Church but if you think about the precedent he set and how bad the whole thing looks, that he probably regrets. 

An ancient crucifix

This was made in 970 AD. 

St. Apollonia

My birthday saint.

At prayer

Random thoughts on a Wenesday

• Has the existence of legal abortion ruined gynecology? A long time ago, I started bleeding heavily and it went on for four weeks. My doctor shrugged and brusquely  told me it was a miscarriage but that my body was handling it.  I was young and meekly accepted that. After six weeks I was exhausted and darn close to full blown shrieking hysteria. He pooh poohed me. I went to a new doctor and got a D&C. Women my age are not surprised by this story but older women in their 60s and 70s are appalled. My doctor at the time did not graduate at the bottom of his class. He was well respected and had a long career. I wonder if the existence of legal abortion helped create the husk over that man's soul.
  
  
• I saw four Dark Eyed Juncos this morning and these plump little snow birds were so cute I forgot the cold for a few minutes.

•  I was reading a lament by the father of several children that went something like this: we never take vacations, or buy new cars or stuff unlike those wicked(?) people over there. The poor man was probably tired and stressed when he wrote his long rant but he's assuming that parents with one or three children are living it up but that's not always the case. A lot of people are just barely hanging on financially and are not doing any better than the couple with ten kids.
  
  
• You've probably seen the photos of that poor, poor Jordanian pilot being burned alive.  May God have mercy on his soul. 

• Mass tonight was wonderful as usual. Fr. Sharp is not a flashy orator but his homilies have much wisdom. 

• “The observance of Lent is the very badge of Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should men grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe.” – Pope Benedict XI
  
  
• Our Lady of Good Success, pray for us. 

This is wrong, wrong, wrong.

This shameless obscenity  took place at St. Mary's Catholic Church Marysville,(!), Washington, on Superbowl Sunday. Notice that Our Lord is nowhere to be seen.  The pastor, these parishioners are the cool kids. They are in full communion and in good standing. Even if the local bishop does not really approve it's likely that he won't say a blessed thing. 

Now, I like football and I'm always thrilled at the start of the season each year but this is wrong. If I came to the homes of any of these people, removed their photos and put up ones that suit me they'd be outraged at my presumption. How much more  wrong is it to go to God's house and put Him aside to celebrate someone else?